On My Shelves: Relics of War

 

Young Garander's sister Ishta insists on going off into the woods by herself, even though there could be very dangerous things living there – monsters, remnants of the great war between the Northerners with their sorceries and Ethshar, a war that destroyed the Northern empire and, in the end, shattered Ethshar into multiple pieces.

This time, Ishta has found something strange and wonderful, a talisman that shows unknown, glowing shapes when touched. Such ancient devices could be harmless… or lethal. Garander makes her show it to their father, Grondar, who sends Garander off with the talisman to show it to the local Baron's magicians. They cannot identify it… and refuse to return it, something which makes Ishta so furious she won't speak with Garander for a long time.

And then Garander finds her in the woods again, but this time she has not found a talisman, but a person – a mysterious wanderer all in black who calls himself "Tesk". Tesk seems harmless, but frighteningly strange; he lives in the woods, under no roof, never staying in the same place, and moves with a superhuman speed and dexterity.

Garander remembers vague tales of a Northern weapon – a man fused with a demon, dressed all in black, the shatra. Grondar remembers more: that the shatra were so dangerous that only a very powerful wizard – or a full-grown dragon – could face one and live.

Is Ishta speaking with a living remnant of the war that shattered the world?

And if she is… what should Garander do?

 

As with all of Lawrence Watt-Evans' stories I've read, the tale draws you in quickly, giving you a grasp of the characters without seeming to spend time detailing them. By the time Garander's heading out into the world on his own, nervous about coming to the Baron's castle by himself, you already know him well enough to worry for him about what will happen. While reading other books set in Ethshar certainly won't hurt, the way Relics is written eliminates the need; all the information required to understand the plot and characters is included transparently in the prose without infodumps.

Relics of War is a good title; it doesn't just refer to the shatra Tesk, but to the talismans and weapons he carries and owns, and, more generally, to the broken and still-healing countries around him, as well as the people who have survived the war, and wish to avoid another.

Garander and Ishta are warm-hearted children (well, Garander's eighteen, so only a child from the point of view of someone like me, I suppose), with Ishta being somewhat more trusting, and Garander trying to be the rational, cautious one. But both of them are willing to give Tesk the benefit of the doubt – and, to their surprise, so is their father Grondar.

Tesk himself is a figure of considerable pathos, despite his potential power. He is, literally, a leftover weapon, a creation whose sole purpose was to be an almost indestructible force on the battlefield, striking terror into the Ethsharitic forces. With his entire country no longer in existence – even the cities ruined – he has no purpose, no home, and nowhere to go. After twenty years, he has discovered the true pain of loneliness, and wishes only a few friends.

But he represents both vast danger, and vast opportunity, to the other powers still present in Ethshar, and they will not leave him alone for long…

I really enjoyed this story. Despite the fact that the plot eventually involves high politics and great danger, Garander still manages to be a driving force in the plot, and the greatest power of all isn't the shatra's superhuman strength or the wizards of the lords who come to seek him out; it is kindness and trust.

I highly recommend Relics of War!